A Lovely Year
by Avivhix3
Summary: There's a new student at Akemi Osaka's school. He's beautiful, popular but shows no interest in other girls; only her. As the year progresses, they spend more time together. Akemi denies liking him. But then he's gone at the end of the year; Too late?
1. Chapter 1

I ran out of the house with a piece of the toast in my mouth. "Have a good day at school, Akemi!" my mom called out behind me. I waved, and ran as quickly as I could to school.

I was running late. Again. I was sure to get a detention for this. Shit. I pushed myself harder, practically choking on the bread. I go to Sylvaran High. It wasn't THAT far from my house but still… I woke up pretty late.

Last night, I spent it finishing my homework at the last minute. The teachers gave us a whole weekend to finish it, but I spent my time going out with friends and at a party. Of course, parties wear me out but they are pretty fun. So I spent my night, researching and typing out reports. I was also supposed to finish writing the newspaper's column of poetry. I was a poet. And a photographer. And here I was, running late to school.

I had thrown on my uniform and brushed my hair recklessly but quickly. It was just below my shoulders and I had black hair with red streaks in them. My uniform was wrinkled but that didn't matter.

I stopped at a corner to catch my breath. I was almost there. I started running again, ignoring the protest of my lungs and legs. I finally made it there when the bell rang.

"Damn it," I muttered.

So, already knowing I would get detention, I slowly walked up the stairs into the school. The hallways were already cleared and students were already in their classes. I walked my way to the office to pick up the tardy slip. The teacher there, the one who hated me; I didn't even do anything to her, confirmed to me what I already knew.

Detention. I groaned.

Then I dropped my backpack off at my locker and walked to my first class.

Language Arts.

A very easy class, the teacher loved me. I was the best writer in the class, not bragging, just the truth.

So I go and I walked in and saw the most drop dead gorgeous guy I had ever seen. And I've seen plenty of good looking guys but this guy was completely… Amazing looking.

He had soft looking black hair that fell just slightly before his eyes. Cold, yet gentle dark brown eyes. A smooth, clear face. He was toned and made the school's uniform look good. His mouth turned up into smirk.

I was instantly aware of the whispers and giggling. I shut my mouth, because I had been standing there like an idiot with it open. Then I stomped over to the teacher's desk, put the paper on the table, and made my way to my seat.

"Class," the teacher said. "This is our new student, Hikaru Kyoto."

Then he was sent to his seat, which, fortunately for him, was in the back of the classroom in the corner.

The girls kept glancing at him, making themselves look cute. Which they were so totally not. The guys glared at him, probably jealous of his looks. Afraid he'd steal their girlfriends or something.

"Yo, Akemi," hissed my friend Minori.

"What?"

"Why were you so late today?"

"I was working on homework."

"Oh…" Then she looked out the window at the sun. It was nice outside. Minori was always that type. She was always so friendly and happy all the time. She daydreamed a lot but gave me ideas for writing. Minori is a dancer so she moved with grace all the time. Minori had short, pink hair and pretty brown eyes. She loved going many places, as did I. I first met her when this nerdy kid was being picked on. There were three other guys against me and I didn't stand a chance. Then she appeared, punching the guy straight in the face. She started shouting something about victory and hero-ness, and how goodness will always win. At the time, I was like... What the hell? But she saved me and I was grateful. After that, we became close friends and hung out. That was in 7th grade, we were now in 10th grade.

The teacher gave us our assignment and left us to work on it. I finished mine in 20 minutes. It was one of those easy days, when the teacher lets us talk and work on assignments. Minori ended up finishing too and we started talking.

"I wonder what he's like.." she mused.

I shrugged. "Go talk to him then?"

She shook her head, pursing her lips. "I think I would be nervous talking to him." She threw a quick glance in his direction. "He's good looking, huh?"

I didn't answer.

"Ha! I knew you thought he was hot too. Right when you walked in the classroom. You should've seen your face!" Minori laughed, so carefree.

I talked with her the rest of the time. Our other friend, Renee, was absent today. She was visiting her family in another state and was coming back tomorrow.

Renee was the smarter of us three. Her hair was purple, long and tied back. She had a nice shade of blue eyes. She played the violin and lived with her dad. Her mom died when Renee was younger, of a disease. Renee has a boyfriend, as smart as her, maybe smarter. We didn't know. He was sitting right next to Hikaru though.

Kai our typical funny guy friend was also absent. We're not exactly sure why. I think he went to go to a funeral of an Uncle he's never met. Oh well.

The bell rang and I gathered my stuff up to leave. Minori basically had the same schedule as me except for 3rd period. She had P.E. and I had technology for the half semester. Boring technology. All we ever did was type.

So as Minori and I walked towards the door, the new guy, Hikaru, walked past me, with a whole bunch of girls right behind him.

They completely went in front of us, taking us longer than usual to get out of the door. I glared at him although he couldn't see. Already, I hated him. Girls already following him. Stupid fangirls of Hikaru. Stupid Hikaru. This was going to be annoying.

Luckily, he didn't have Spanish for 2nd period. I sighed in relief and spent the time reading the language. Minori was roaming around the classroom, talking to people. I finished the problems in the Spanish textbook. The bell rang and I walked to Technology. I had this class with Suke (pronounced like Suki. Girl name xD) , Renee's boyfriend, and Renee herself but she wasn't here. I sat by Suke and he nodded, acknowledging me. How he could ever show affection towards Renee, we never could figure out. Maybe they just sensed it with their intelligent minds or something. I guess it is pretty cute seeing him get jealous about a guy trying to make his "move" on Renee. He never really showed he cared, but in a way, he did. Like… He was different. Other guys would normally kiss or hug or give their girlfriend flowers all the time and show them off in public. Suke didn't. Sure he hugged her and kissed her forehead and cheek or whatever all the time. But it was more of like… The things he did that showed he cared. Like sharing his food, holding her hand and talking to her, the way he looked at her. He let her see his weak side, when we never have. It's hard to explain. It's not like he showed her off. It was just that they belonged together. It was so right seeing them together.

"How's life?" I asked him as I started the work.

"It's good," he nodded. Always so hard to make conversation with him. I sighed. I wonder what he and Renee always talked about.

"And yours?" He asked me quietly.

"It's… fine."

He nodded and we worked on our assignments quietly, making small talk every something minutes. Finally, the class ended, and I headed to Social Studies. Suke and I walked together, not saying anything.

As I walked into the classroom, I heard Minori yell out, "AKEMI!" Her usual greeting.

She took her spot next to me and went into detail of all that happened in P.E. The girls finding a spider in the locker room and more. After Social Studies was lunch. Oh, how I dreaded lunch…

We had two other friends besides us. The girly girl and very pretty one ; Yumi. Then the other. My ex-boyfriend. The one who broke up with me. The one who's a part of our group and who I have to see every. Single. Freakin'. Day.

Daichi.

I told Minori I'd meet her at the lunch table and then I took my time walking slowly to my locker and then to the cafeteria. As usual, it was always loud. I made my way to the table and sat down. Suke was there, Yumi, Daichi… Ugh. Kai and Renee were absent and Minori was buying lunch. I shared with her so I usually got half of Minori's food. Suke only ate sometimes. Yumi never ate. If she did, she'd only have a little snack. She was always worried about her weight when she was super skinny. A model thing I guess. Her aunt worked as a designer and needed a model. Whatever. Daichi ate too. He already had his food. There was an awkward silence at the table.

"Did you guys see the new student?" Yumi asked.

"Yeah," Daichi answered. "I see he already has fangirls. He's most likely going to end up on the dark side." He laughed.

I was glad to see Minori appear. She sat beside me and split the food.

Minori's eyes widened as she looked off in another direction. "Do you guys see that?"

We didn't have to see it when we could already hear it. We turned and looked at the source. Hikaru was sitting at one of the really popular tables. The girls were surrounding him and the popular guys were, of course, loving the attention. Increased their chances of getting with the girls. THIS is why I like gay guys, I swear.

"Hmm," Yumi mused. She fixed her long, golden blonde hair and checked how she looked in her little mirror.

"Don't tell me," I began. "You plan on actually going over there?"

She giggled. "Yes, of course. He's the prettiest boy I've ever seen so far. I'd like to get to know him."

Then she left our table and walked over to theirs. Yumi was constantly switching from guy to guy. Of course, it was always the good looking ones. She was searching for love, I supposed. Quickly falling in and out of love to find out who her real soul mate is. Minori's only gone out once or twice but she figures she's better off single. She doesn't need a guy, she tells me.

Me?

I was still heartbroken and depressed because of Daichi breaking up with me. Lame, I know. I still liked him when I should be a normal person and move on. But it was hard to move on when I had to see him every day and see him how I've always seen him. Except, he ignored me and didn't even act like I was there. What a jerk.

I'd been with him for about a year until he ended it. We had a lot of memories and he told me many things. Made me promises he broke. He took everything back. There was never a day that passed when I wouldn't think of him. He was just always there. Most things reminded me of him but I pretended as if I didn't care for him either. I didn't want to be seen as this wimpy, heartbroken girl who's boyfriend left her for someone else prettier. So I pretended like he didn't affect me. Of course, I could tell that Minori saw through me a little. Sometimes it would hit me. How he left. I tried to distract my mind from him which always failed. Whatever.

Lunch passed by quickly in silence for us. I walked to math with them and found the new guy there, sitting in my spot, surrounded by the "cool" guys. In this period and the next, my friends and I all had the same class.

I walked over confidently, ready to tell him to move. I stopped right in front of MY desk and narrowed my eyes at him. He had an amused expression on his face and his now, I guess, new friends watched, waiting for something.

"This is where I sit. So, could you move?"

He looked up at me with challenging eyes. "And who are you?"

"That's not really any of your business," I snapped back.

I hated his expression. I hated his tone. It sounded like a bit of sarcasm and he acted as if he was better than everyone else it seemed, just because he looked better. I guess he was one of those, guys that think they're so much smarter and better than everyone else.

"Isn't it? You come over here, demanding me to move, and you don't even give your name. Isn't that a bit rude?"

No need to tell him why I was so bitter. My reason was obviously sitting in the front of the class, acting like I was a stranger.

"Well," I began. "This is my seat. I sit here. And you're new. And," Then I turned to his friends. "What are you guys all doing here?"

The idiot one said, "We're with him, obviously." He told me as if I was slow.

"Could you move please?" I asked once more.

Hikaru sighed and said, "Allright guys. Let's go." Then they walked to another part of the classroom.

I heard laughter right on the left of me. It was Yumi. "You already don't like him?"

I shook my head. "He looks like the type that would mess around a lot and trick girls. Conceited and selfish." I spoke rudely of him.

She just shrugged.

We spent the whole time working. Then 6th period, Science, passed by quickly also. I was planning on going to the mall with Minori but then she told me she couldn't go, had to babysit. I sighed and decided to go alone then. I needed to buy my mom something for her birthday anyways. It was in 3 days.

I walked to the mall, letting my thoughts wander. I went inside and saw several familiar faces. I entered into this pretty jewelry store, planning on buying my mom a bracelet. I bought it and then walked out. I think I need some new clothes.

I walk into my favorite clothing store and found Hikaru. My day was ruined now. I sighed and ignored him and his new friends and the girls with them. Part of their "posse" was getting nearer to me as I looked at some shirts, so in a hurry, I backed up and tripped over this rack thing.

During my fall, I managed to knock down a whole bunch of folded shirts on this rack and fell on top of something. I groaned.

I opened my eyes to find someone else's eyes staring back at me. Amused.

I heard his friends yelling and then I gasped and tried getting up. I was embarrassed and humiliated. Then yelling from more people came and so I ran out of the store and didn't look back.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, I woke up tired as usual. I got ready lazily and then walked to school. Today the group was all supposed to be here. I wasn't ready to face Hikaru though. There's no doubt in my mind that he DIDN'T know who it was that fell on him yesterday. Errgh..

At the front of the school, I spotted them all there. Suke and Renee talking quietly to each other on the steps. Minori and Yumi checking Hikaru out and being complete girls. Daichi and Kai joking around and saying stuff. Kai saw me and waved cheerfully. He walked up to me and gave me a big hug. I laughed.

"You should've been there," he whispered to me. "It was boring. I needed someone to go and steal some food with me. A ninja though." He grinned.

"I think it would've been better if I hadn't gone. People would probably wonder who that girl was."

Kai saw through me all the time too. He joked around a lot and tried cheering me up.

"So, the new guy…" Kai started. "He's so hot, don't you think?"

I stared at him. "I never knew you were checking him out."

"I was not! Rumors, you know." Then he waved his hand dismissively, let me go, and we both walked into the building to our first class. It was the usual, I guess. Lunch came and Kai danced his way up to Hikaru, put his hand on his leg, and did a whole bunch of stuff that could cause us to question his … Whether he was straight or gay. The strang-er thing is that Hikaru put his hand on Kai's leg also and pretended to be gay too. Then Kai came back all freaked out.

After school, I was hanging out with Renee and Suke. They were holding hands and just talking in their quiet gentle voices. I sat there and sighed. Yeah, it was nice and peaceful being around these two, but you couldn't help but feel so… left out. "Nerds in love," I muttered.

Renee laughed and Suke just smiled a bit.

"Haven't you ever thought of moving on Akemi?" Renee asked me softly. I looked at her and her blue eyes looked back at me, showing me that she cared.

I sighed. "I did try..." I admitted. "I just can't though. I know I'm better off without him but still... I know he's a jerk. I know he's mean. But I just can't forget about him."

Suke and her nodded.

"Akemi…" said Suke. "You are aware that he thinks he may have found someone else right?"

"Yes. I know." How could I not? So many people already knew that he may like another girl. They all seemed to know who it is but just weren't telling me here name. I swear, I think Daichi made them vow not to tell me, specifically me of course. I tried asking Yumi but she wouldn't tell me, said he'd 'kill her' if she ever did. It wasn't like he'd find out though, I barely talked to him. In fact, I never talked to him. And he told me that we could be friends. Some friends we were, I thought darkly.

Renee gave me a hug and it took most of my will to not break down and cry right there. I was sick of crying. Everytime someone showed me pity or that they're sorry for what happened, I felt like crying even more.

"Hello," a familiar voice greeted. I turned to glare up at that person.

Hikaru was standing right next to me while I was sitting there on the steps. He sat next to me, making himself comfortable. I resisted the urge to push him away and chose instead, to look away.

"So, your name's Akemi?" he asked me. No doubt some girl gave him all the information on me.

I nodded, still not looking at him.

"I'm Hikaru," he told me. Like I didn't already know. He held his hand out and I looked at him in disbelief. He was looking directly at me with a friendly smile on his face. It lighted up his features and made him look even more beautiful.

"I figured that we should start over," he told me sheepishly.

I muttered something like "Fine", then I shook his hand and pulled it away just as quickly. He laughed. I looked up at him and he was obviously entertained by my expression, I bet.

He took my hand smoothly and held it in his. A small gasp escaped my lips. "You don't like me very much. Why?" then he looked at me with his charming eyes. I smacked his face away and pulled my hand free of his.

"Just messing around," he chuckled. "But seriously, why? It's obvious, you know."

"Of course I know," I folded my arms across my chest. "Because you think you're so good looking, think you're so popular, think you can get all the girls, and you think you're all that but you're not."

"Aren't I though?"

"No."

He laughed and then said, "I don't think I can get all the girls. Well, most of them."

I growled/mumbled things un-understandable to him.

"Are you missing something?" he suddenly asked me. I was caught off guard. I didn't know what he meant. "No…?" I told him confused. He shrugged then. I figured it was time to go. Felt like getting out of there before we started having a full on conversation.

I stood up. "Well, bye you two." I said towards Renee and Suke who were lost in conversation. She waved but didn't look at me. Then I turned and was walking away. After about 2 minutes of walking, I heard footsteps behind me and turned, ready to hit whoever it was.

"Don't hurt me!" Hikaru held up his hands, defending, of course, his face. I sighed and lowered my bag.

I figured I could talk to him normally but I wouldn't be considered his friend or fall for his charming ways.

"What are you doing?" I asked him, exasperated.

"Walking you home," he said with a confident expression. I stared at him incredulously. "_Why?"_

I couldn't figure out why he was so intent on walking me home, but seeing his expression made me feel like laughing. I was just going home, after all. He then had a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Let's go," then he walked ahead of me and I had no choice but to follow. I realized we weren't headed to my house but instead, to a park.

"Why are we going here?"

"Just felt like I should get to know you better," he said.

Me? Why me? Just so he could show how stupid I was in front of his friends? I stopped my irritation from taking over. I never liked people that were really popular and had everything. Made everyone below them look really bad.

We stopped in front of swings and he sat down. I sat down on the other one and then we started gently swinging.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" he asked me. That was unexpected.

"No," I told him.

"A girlfriend?"

Erk. I glared at him.

"Okay, I take that as a no…" he laughed. His beautiful face lighting up. There was something under the surface though… Some kind of-

"What do you like to do?" he asked, smiling.

"Uhh… I like to write, listen to music, take pictures, hang out with my friends…" This was kind of awkward.

And again, "Are you missing something?"

"Noo…" I told him. When he asked though, my thoughts had immediately turned to missing Daichi. I ignored that aching feeling and wondered what Hikaru meant.

"Is anyone's birthday coming up?"

My mom's. "Oh!" I remembered the bracelet I got for her. "My mom's birthday is in 2 days."

He nodded. "What'd you get her?"

"A bracelet."

Hikaru smirked. "This bracelet?" Then he reached into his pocket and pulled that exact same one out. I was in disbelief as I checked my own pockets, knowing that the one he had in his hand was the one I bought.

"But, what, how..?" I sputtered. He looked over at me, calmly.

"When you decided to leave me with picking up all those clothes you knocked over."

There was an awkward, embarrassing silence. Oh, so he did recognize me..

"Well…" I held my hand out, stubbornly, for the bracelet. "Could I… Please have it back?"

Hikaru looked at me with his eyebrow raised, slightly. As if questioning me. "No." He stated simply.

"Why not?"

"Since I had to pick up and refold all that clothes, I think you owe me, wouldn't you agree?" He asked with a slight smile on his face.

"No. I don't agree. I bought it, it's mine." I held my hand out impatiently. "And if I did actually owe you, what do you want from me?"

"Oh, no." He pulled the bracelet farther away from me. "You owe me. In order to get this back, you have to…." Then he was thinking.

Whatever he thought of, I hoped it wasn't embarrassing or ruined my reputation in any way. I hoped it didn't involve other guys or girls or having to be his own personal maid. Ugh, I shuddered.

"Go out with me tomorrow."

_"What?"_

Hikaru nodded, smirking. "You heard me. In order to get this back, you go out with me tomorrow."

"Why?" I couldn't wrap my head around it. He wanted to go out with someone like me? There were so many other, prettier girls he could choose from that he could get. Why me?

"Because… I'm interested in you..?" He said as if it was supposed to be obvious. "Well, it's your choice whether you want it back or not." Then he put it back in his pocket and looked at me. "So what is it?"

I pursed my lips. It couldn't hurt. I would just hang out with him for one day and then go home after getting the bracelet back. The day after tomorrow would be my mom's birthday and everything would be all good. I wouldn't have to involve myself with Hikaru anymore.

"Fine," I agreed.

"You don't look so happy," he pointed out.

I just shook my head. "I'm not interested in you."

"Ouch."

I smiled a little. I wouldn't let him affect me like all those other girls are. He's just some guy, interested in me. He'll end up getting rejected.

"I'm going home now," I stood up and walked away.

"Bye then," he said.

I waved my hand and then went home.


	3. Chapter 3

Next morning at school was a half day. I hurried to school, not late. OH MY GREATNESS. I completely forgot about detention. Damn!

I laughed, embarrassed at myself. I guess I'd have to serve it tomorrow.

The school day passed quickly for me. At lunch, Hikaru just held my gaze for a second and went back to laughing with his loud, obnoxious friends. I sighed and sat at the table with my backpack. For half days, we ended it with lunch so it was very loud as people were impatient for school to end.

Minori and Yumi and Renee were both looking at dresses for the school dance coming up. Kai was the center of attention for entertainment so he was dancing. Suke was quietly sitting next to Renee, leaving me with no one to talk to except Daichi. Of course, he wasn't even counted as a person to even talk to.

"So… Daichi..?" I began, as usual.

"Yeah?" he looked at me and I felt the aching I always felt. How I liked him and how I hated him.

"Uhh…" I usually asked him how things were every once in awhile so we didn't become complete strangers. "How have you been?"

"Good. And you?"

"Fine."

I thought of the next line. "How's life?"

Daichi sighed. "Tiring."

"Mhm, I see," is all I said. Then it was quiet between the two of us. Since he broke up with me, there were so many questions I wanted to ask him. But I couldn't because time had passed and it no longer mattered to him, I'm guessing.

The bell rang and people rushed out quickly. My friends and I were hanging out on the stairs, our usual spot. We talked, laughed, messed around until I was the only one left. With Daichi. Just my luck.

It was quiet and calm. I'm not sure why he doesn't ever talk to me. We could still be friends right? And yet it seems like he avoids me…

"Hello friends!" Hikaru called cheerfully. He walked over to us with this big ass grin on his face. I have no clue why. But his friends and the girls were probably at the mall, waiting for him. His phone vibrated and he checked it, texting something back.

"Aren't you supposed to be at the mall?" I asked him.

"Nope! I'm supposed to be with you," he smiled. I rolled my eyes at him. Another part of my mind was aware of Daichi, standing there, listening to us. "Hi Daichi," Hikaru greeted him. "Hi," Daichi said back and nodded.

"Well, let's get going then, shall we Akemi?" Hikaru held his hand out to me. I ignored it, walking past him and asked "Where are we going?"

"Bye Daichi!" Hikaru said. Then to me, "My house. Gotta change clothes."

I walked silently beside him as we walked along the sidewalk. We made it to this big house. Looked like a mansion. I stood there, looking up at it, amazed. I heard him laugh and then he took my hand led me past the gate, inside the doors of this… House.

He made me sit down in the living room where the maid served me some cookies and tea. Wow. He had servants. Then I rolled my eyes. Tch, typical.

Hikaru came downstairs in expensive clothing. It looked nice on him. Ugh, I shook my head, ridding myself of the thought.

"Ready?" he asked me. I nodded. "You can just leave your bag here," he told me. "We're coming back anyways."

"I'd rather take it with me," I answered a bit coldly. He shrugged and wandered out.

So much for grabbing the bracelet and then ditching. I sighed. Then I followed him out. Turns out he had his own car but decided to walk to school as "exercise". I didn't even know how to drive yet. In the car, we didn't talk but listened to music. Hikaru was humming along to the song and I just stared out of my window. I wondered where we were going.

As the song came to an end, I asked just to make sure, "You have the bracelet right?"

"Yup," he replied. "I'm not that type, you know."

I shrugged.

I saw that we were suddenly at an amusement park. He parked the car and we both got out, going to the entrance. It was colorful and not that much people were here because it was in the middle of the week. Wednesday.

We got in and then it was just fun and games. I won myself a stuffed animal turtle and was so happy I hugged him. This then resulted in me hitting his face and pushing him away once I realized what I was doing. He bought candy every once in awhile to restore our energy. Or something to eat. We competed in games and I have to admit, he had skills.

A while later, we were on the Ferris wheel. It was dark and the sky was a light purple to dark purple color. Almost completely nighttime. We could see the stars faintly twinkling. I was relieved from all the walking and our seat thing was almost at the top. I turned my head to look out below at all the lights. Hikaru was silently gazing below too. I looked at him once the Ferris wheel stopped at the top. He smiled.

"Here." He held up the bracelet and it glimmered softly from the lights below. I scooted closer to him to reach for it. As I was reaching though, it looked like it got farther away. I reached further; unaware of how close I was getting to him. I was sure he was pulling it farther away from me to mess with me, so I narrowed my eyes at him and tried grabbing it as fast as I could.

His arms were suddenly around me, holding me close. He held me there so I couldn't escape. I couldn't believe he was hugging me. I was going to pull away from him and hit him until I couldn't concentrate. I kind of lost focus because of the warmth coming from him. I never realized I was so cold…

I was suddenly aware that I was just lying there in his arms. He had loosened his hold and I was just there, doing nothing. Too caught off guard. Irritation sparked through me and I backed as far away as I could from him. I was on the defensive side now. He tricked me.

He looked at me with curiosity in his eyes and laughed. I narrowed my eyes at him. "Here, here." Then he held out the bracelet to me. I took it cautiously and stayed my distance from him. After the ride ended, he drove me to the park we first talked at.

By this time, I could really see the stars. They were pretty and I was stargazing up at the sky. It was a peaceful kind of quietness. I wondered what Hikaru was thinking. He was also looking up at the sky with this… Lonely look on his face. But what would he have to be lonely about? He had lots of friends, servants… Oh, I didn't see his parents at his house today. I wonder where-

"Sorry."

"What?" I asked him, not understanding. He looked at me with an apologetic expression.

"For hugging you."

"Oh." I didn't know what to say now. I mean, I was pretty irritated and felt violated because of that. But now it didn't seem to matter. I actually had fun today.

"You seemed to have gotten pretty defensive," he joked. "I thought you were about to push me off the Ferris wheel. It was just a hug too."

I laughed. "Yeah, it was. Caught me off guard though."

"Trying to hide your interest in me?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm so not interested in someone like you. Don't forget. You made me do this."

"I didn't make you do anything." He looked at me with innocent eyes.

"You're the one who threatened me to go out with you only for a bracelet that I bought myself."

He pondered thought for a moment. "At least I'm not the one who lost it."

"But," I began. "You were the one keeping it hostage."

He rolled his eyes and I couldn't deny that he looked cute when he did that. We both turned to look up at the sky again. I let my mind drift.

A few minutes later, Hikaru asked me something.

"Do you still hate me?"

I stared at him. What was he going on about now? "Is that why you wanted to go somewhere with me? To show how wonderful you are?"

He half-smiled. "That's part of the reason."

"Then yes," I told him. "I still hate you." And I smiled. He sighed. "Time to get you home." He said to me.

He dropped me off and then said goodnight. I walked into my room, worn out and left with a feeling of peace. I fell asleep, having a dreamless night for once.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day we had a day off. So I DIDN'T have to serve detention until Friday. The teachers were sure to get on my case about that. I sighed. It was windy outside. What ever happened to the sunshine? What bipolar weather…

Today, I didn't do much. I finished my homework, got on the computer, and said happy birthday to my mom. I gave her the bracelet, which she loved and my little sister handed a home made card to her. Kira, my younger sister, was, of course, spoiled. She loved attention so I stayed away gladly. While I was on the computer, I found myself constantly wondering about Hikaru and then shook off the thought off every time he appeared in my mind. I decided that I was done with him.

Daichi would also occasionally make himself known in my mind. Always just below the surface, ready to float up and contaminate my thoughts. Well, I didn't do much; it was a calm day for my mom's birthday.

On Friday, I came to school tired and cranky. I hadn't gotten much sleep, thanks to myself. I stayed up late, reading, trying to distract my mind. Ugh, I groaned.

"Hi Akemi…" Yumi greeted me as she stared, curiously, at my expression. I waved back, not caring.

"Sleeping beauty," Kai joked and Yumi elbowed him. "OW."

"Look," I began telling them. "I didn't get much sleep… and wow, its cold." I noticed that I was freezing and hugged myself to warm myself.

"Well," Yumi began. We started walking inside. "You know how it's October and Halloween's coming up right?" I nodded. "My mom decided to throw a Halloween party and said I could invite whoever. We're going to the second house because the first house is all adults. I would like to invite you and many others. Would you please come?"

"Sure," I told her. She smiled dazzlingly.

"Thank you! It's going to be so much fun." Then we went to class.

Hikaru and I avoided each other the whole day. And how fun. I got to finish my Friday with detention.

I walked slowly to detention with my backpack. There were a bunch of creepy, freaks in detention all the time. I wasn't looking forward to it…

I entered the classroom and the teacher instructed me to sit down. Then I saw _her_. Kimi. Stuck up. Popular. Spoiled. Ugly on the inside. She hated me and I hated her. I remember when she was the new student in middle school. I met her in 8th grade.

The guys fell for her beauty. The girls admired her. Except for some. Most of them liked her though. But once I heard her voice, I could tell that we would not get along. Her voice was too sweet, sounded fake. Kimi made it to the top of the popularity list quickly. Then she became mean and gossipy. The reason she hated me is because I did not bow down to her. I would never. Plus, she had a thing for Daichi and I apparently "took him away from her". I didn't mean to do that to show off; I really did like him, but I was glad because she was angry and I enjoyed taking what she wanted. Now she brings Daichi's name up when she's "losing" in one of our girl fights. Which I then have the urge to hit her but Minori or Kai prevent that from happening.

I took out a piece of paper, preparing to draw for the rest of the time in boredom. It was quiet and the atmosphere made me tired. I managed to draw quite badly, some animals, characters, and random shiz. I doodled and just let the feel of the pencil guide my hand.

The time passed and we were sent out of the classroom to finally go home. I stretched and got up. As I walked out of the door, Kimi passed me, bumping into my shoulder on purpose. I glared at her as she walked away.

Outside, I saw Daichi and felt my heart beat a bit faster. I walked and was standing about a foot away from him.

"What… are you still doing here?" I asked him hesitantly, looking down.

"Stayed after school to help out with the Yearbook Crew."

It was quiet for a few more seconds.

"Hey Daichi? Is it allright if I ask you a question? I'm just wondering, you know."

"Sure. And, yes, I know," he smiled slightly. That was how our relationship was before. I was always curious about him and always asked him a bunch of questions with no real purpose. Because I was just wondering. It hurt me to think of that; from before. To know that he remembered.

"Do you…" I didn't know how to approach the subject. He waited patiently. "Did you find…" Damn it. "What are you doing about the girl you like?" I quickly asked.

He sighed. "People just can't be trusted these days..." Then he shook his head.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, that everyone just has to know everyone else's business. You can think you trust someone but then suddenly, it's like, the next day everyone knows about it. And it spreads fast."

"Oh…" I acknowledged. "So what about her?"

"I'll work on it later," Daichi told me. He'd work on it later. Work on what? Trying to impress her? To get her to like him? My anger flared brightly on the inside. You know, sometimes I wonder why I even still like him. An idiot…

No one's told me who she is. I also wonder if the reason why he doesn't tell me is because he doesn't want to hurt me even more… But then, he should know that I know all about it so it already hurts. Daichi should also be aware of my curiosity too… Maybe he just doesn't think of me as a friend and so I shouldn't be involved with his life. I'd like to think that he didn't want me to be more hurt but that seems unlikely.

The sound of the rain filled the silence.

"Well, bye bye Daichi," I said, forcing a smile on my face and waving. He looked at me for a second, waved, and then turned away. I walked the rest of the way home in the rain. And then I felt it. Always happens after I've talked to him. Always happened whenever I was alone.

I felt my tears streaming but no one could see them. When I got home, I grabbed a snack, took a shower, listened to music a little bit, and even looked at my necklace. A gift he got for me. The pendant was a beautiful, deep shade of blue; a heart, and had silver wings. The chain was silver too. It was beautiful and seemed have this small sparkle all the time.

I fell asleep with it on my bedside table with tears streaming.

**A little bit of the past for more clarification:**

Akemi and Daichi had been together for about a year until he ended it because he found someone else. They talked a lot and were always found together. He complimented her, made her promises, and took her to a lot of places. They had a lot of memories together and trusted each other. He bought her that necklace and some other stuff that she's hiding in a box in her closet… Then one summer, he was out of the state and found another person whom he began developing feelings for. Things got complicated and then he broke up with her. It's been about a month ago since he ended it and she still has feelings for him. So yup. She had liked him for a long time…


	5. Chapter 5

The weeks passed and it was about three days before the Halloween party. The girls, my friends except for Yumi, talked a lot about costumes but the guys were dreading it. The shopping part.

Ever since I stopped talking to Hikaru, I felt more at ease. I always snuck glances at him though, out of curiosity. We pretended as if that day never happened, which was a good thing.

Everyone at the school seemed to be excited about it. Looks like Yumi invited practically all of them, I'm guessing plus more. She knows a lot of people…

We were all planning on going together except Yumi would already be at the party, of course. Suke would be the driver. After all, he had the most control and was actually able to drive. Minori, Kai, and I did not know how to drive at all.

"We should go shopping tomorrow!" Minori exclaimed.

Kai groaned. "Can I just go as a hobo? I have the outfit for it anyways."

"Noo," Minori whined. "We need you guys."

"Probably to just carry the bags," Daichi muttered.

"At least it builds muscle!" Minori said cheerfully, as if that made any of a difference. "Come on! Pleeeaaassseeee... It'll be fun."

"Yeah, shopping would be so totally fun to them," I threw in sarcastically, smiling.

Kai swayed slightly. "You know, I think I'm a little sick. Cough, cough."

"I think I am too…" Daichi murmured weakly. Then Kai added in, "Suke… Have fun." And pretended to faint. Minori pouted and crossed her arms.

"It'll be just as fun without them," I reassured her, then winced because of Daichi. "We don't need them anyways. We'll have Suke, right?"

Renee looked up at Suke and smiled and he looked back at her. Gah. I looked away.

"Yeah!" Minori recovered. "We're gonna go find some hot guys, and then we're gonna buy some ultra cool stuff and then… WE SHOULD MAKE THIS INTO A COMPETITION!"

"What?" Kai asked.

"Okay," Minori then leaned over the table as if this was some secret group meeting. I laughed at that.

"It'll be girls vs. guys. Except Renee and Suke don't count, of course. So it'll be me and Akemi against Daichi and Kai. Whoever has the best costume wins."

"What do we win?" Kai asked, determined. Those two loved challenges and winning.

"Hmm…" Minori looked up, thinking. "Whoever wins…"

"Whoever wins..." Daichi pressed.

"Actually, whoever loses has to pretend to be interested in Hikaru and follow him around!" She concluded.

"That's not fair!" Kai protested. "He's gonna think we're… gay."

"Well, you sure act gay," I told him. Kai hit me playfully.

Renee interrupted. "But aren't their two on each side? How would the losers both follow him around?"

"Oh," Minori thought this through. "Then he'll have two lovers." And she grinned. I shook my head but smiled at her simple ways.

"Deal," Kai extended his hand to her. Then they shook on it.

* * *

Honestly, I didn't look forward to pretending to act all interested in Hikaru when I told him I didn't like him. It's true, I didn't like him. I've learned that popular people are able to lie and manipulate. I didn't trust any of them. Not even Yumi, really.

The next day we all went shopping. Suke drove us to the mall; I can't believe he'd go this far for Renee, while the other two went with each other. It was fun shopping and acting like complete girls. Suke just laughed every now and then at our reactions. We left Renee and Suke to buy the food. Renee had bought this Queen of Darkness costume thing. It actually fit her. It was a dark purple with black and was the kind of dress that poofed out a bit. And Suke was the King, of course… Sigh.

I stood next to Minori as she looked through the maid costumes.

"Hmm," she had a thoughtful, determined expression on her face. She'd been at this for more than 20 minutes. I was holding the bag that had my costume in it. I was being something common; a witch.

"Just pick one!" I told her, exasperated. I was hungry and the costumes didn't matter much as long as the point was clear. Renee and Suke chose one in less than 10 minutes. Probably to get some more alone time.

"SHHH!" she told me defensively. I hit my head against the rack. After 10 more minutes, she FINALLY chose one. We were walking out of the store now.

"Do you think we're going to win?" she asked me thoughtfully. I shrugged.

"We better. I don't want to go around pretending I'm interested in Hikaru."

Minori walked beside me with a sort of cheerful steps. I wondered what she was thinking of.

"Akemiiii, do you think she invited him?"

I rolled my eyes. "Probably. She seems to have invited the whole school."

"Oh, she did," Minori told me. I sighed, completely expected of Yumi. We spotted Suke and Renee sitting at the table in the food court, prepared with lots of food. I laughed; Renee could easily read my moods.

We ate and talked.

"I'm curious as to what the other two have chosen as costumes…" Suke then told us.

"Maybe something stupid," Minori laughed. Renee said, "Well, you know Kai and Daichi. Put both of them together and they can become very creative."

"Well, I think we're going to win," Minori exclaimed.

I nodded. "It'll be fun to watch them act like they like Hikaru."

"It'll be fun to watch _who_ like Hikaru?"

Unwillingly, I looked up behind me at the person who spoke. Kai grinned and put his hand on my head. Daichi was standing right next to him with the bags.

Kai made himself welcome by pulling out a chair and sitting next to me. Daichi sat on his other side.

"It's pretty obvious who's going to win," Kai said. Minori scoffed.

"Yeah, right. We will." I told him. "No offense, but you guys aren't exactly the right people to pick which costumes are awesome and which aren't. Who's going to be the judge anyways?"

"I'm guessing Yumi should?" Renee suggested. Everyone shuddered. Renee shrugged.

"How about we find someone at the party? A stranger, though. That way the judge won't favor one more than the other," said Daichi. Everyone murmured an agreement.

We were done eating and decided to drop off the bags in our car. I raced against Minori and Kai, back to the mall and Kai won, unfortunately. I felt this light happiness flowing through me. I guess it was because it was the lightness of running around and laughing a lot. We spent time hanging out in the mall.

I saw Kai posing in one of those display windows, winking at every guy who stared. Renee was laughing so hard. As was I. Daichi had been somewhere else, was walking towards the store, and passed by Kai. At first he hadn't noticed, then he did a double take and his expression was hilarious. A "What the -?" expression. "Idiots," Suke muttered jokingly.

Us girls took some pictures with hats and accessories on, messing around. The guys also tried on some except for Suke; he was standing there, laughing/smiling.

Then Kai and Daichi were trying on dresses and Minori managed to capture some pictures. Daichi raced after her, planning on deleting the photos and then they kicked us out. I was light the whole way, running out and laughing. We were so stupid. Suke apologized though, for our "foolishness" and he followed after us.

A while later, everyone was sprawled all over my living room. "You kids hungry?" my mom asked as she was leaving with my little sister to buy her costume.

"Not really," Renee answered.

"If you guys do get hungry, feel free to find something to eat in the kitchen," my mom told us with a smile. Then she left. Kai sighed, out of happiness.

It was quiet. We left the TV on though, with some music playing quietly in the background. The light streamed in softly through the window, making a soft glow on everyone. It showed more of our features and made us look… prettier, I have to admit. I sneaked a glance at Daichi. I noticed the bags under his eyes, hinting at his exhaustion. His eyes were closed and he was resting, breathing evenly. The atmosphere made me tired too. I was sitting on the floor and Minori was lying down right next to me; her eyes closed. Renee and Suke sat together on the loveseat with Kai at their feet. He was snoring lightly already.

I watched Daichi for a bit. I could tell he wasn't getting enough sleep, busy with other work to do. He had an older brother and a younger sister. His mom, like mine, had gotten into a divorce and took care of the three of them. He helped his mom a lot…

He had a lot of stress and seemed so busy when he was away from us. In a way, of course I wanted to help him. I wanted him to be less stressed. I couldn't though…

A few minutes later, I felt someone shaking me. I groaned.

"Dude, wake up."

I opened my eyes and looked back at Kai's humored brown ones. I jumped up, immediately aware that I fell asleep. Daichi, Minori, Suke, and Renee were gone. Eh?

"What are you still doing here?" I asked him, confused. Shouldn't this guy be gone by now? Kai laughed. "Your mom invited me to stay long enough for a late dinner."

I could hear and smell the cooking from the kitchen as she prepared it for us. Kira, my little sister, ran down from upstairs and straight towards Kai. She hugged his leg.

"Ooh," Kai began. "Disowned by your sister." I rolled my eyes. Ever since I brought Kai to my house to work on a project, it was like love at first sight for her.

"Whatever. Come on." I pried Kira off of him and then we were now in my room. He was messing with the turtle I won at the amusement park. When I was with Hikaru. My face heated up with embarrassment at remembering his hug. I turned, pretended to be interested in the necklace.

"Where'd you get this?" Kai asked me.

"I won it. At the amusement park," I admitted honestly.

"What?" The tone of his voice made me look at him. "With who?"

"Uhh, Hikaru…"

"Wow." Is all Kai said, obviously thinking of something.

"I'm not interested in him," I explained, defending myself. "I just needed something from him and I owed him I guess and then he asked and I followed."

It was quiet.

"Dinner's ready!" My mom called suddenly from downstairs. "Coming!" I called back.

We walked downstairs and ate. She asked how he was and he responded with humor. We laughed a lot that dinner. Kira was sad to see him go and then he made a call to Daichi to pick him up. I guess Daichi forgot that he came with Kai because he had left. I found that a bit funny. I stood on the porch, watching Kai attempt to open the door with the wind pushing it back down. I laughed and he waved bye. Then the car drove away and I went back inside, and fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

"PARTY, PARTY, PARTY! WOOO, FUCK YEAH!" Minori yelled loudly in my room. Minori, Renee, and I were getting ready with our makeup and costume. It was the day of Yumi's Halloween party and I was looking forward to it. It made me excited to just have fun and relax.

"Shhh!" I told her. "Watch your language. There is a little girl who picks up on those things." Indicating Kira sitting downstairs, watching TV.

"Oops, sorry." Minori whispered. She was wearing her blue maid outfit with fake blood coming from the heart area. For her makeup, she was pale with fake so-called blood streaming as if coming from her eye. She had put on cat ears, I have no clue why.

Renee had on her black and purple Queen of Darkness dress and had dark makeup. Her hair was left down and she had a black crown on. It suited her so well. Right now, she was working on her hair. Making it fall just right because it was so long.

I was currently working on my makeup. My dark purple witch's dress was a little above my knees. I didn't feel like putting the hat on, but I did but my hair up.

"I'm just so excited," Minori explained. "I mean, it's going to be so awesome and a bit scary because it's a night but still. I heard there's going to be a lot of hot guys there." Then she winked.

Renee laughed. "Not for me. I'm happily taken by my King of Darkness."

"I guess that's a good thing. Less competition," Minori joked. "I don't know about that sexy witch over there though."

"Please," I started telling her. "I don't need a guy. Better off single. I'll just be standing there, all awkward and shit."

"Don't worry, you can stay with me and Suke," Renee said.

Minori laughed. "Oh, yeah, 'cause they'll make you feel so totally LESS awkward."

I just rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Hey, when are the guys going to be here?"

Renee checked her cellphone. "They should've been here about 10 minutes ago…"

As if on cue, we heard a car and then multiple sounds of loud honks. The car was turned off and then we heard the guys' voices.

"Idiot," we heard Suke say.

"Just letting them know we were here," Kai replied back.

The doorbell rang and I heard Kira open the door. Didn't mom tell her to not open the door to strangers?

"Akemi!" Kira yelled. "Your stupid friends are here! Except for Kai!"

I just shook my head. She loved his name because they both had the same letters except he didn't have the R.

"Ready?" Renee stood in the doorway.

"Yes!" Minori ran out and I followed after her. Renee shut my door and we walked downstairs.

As expected of, Kira was holding on to Kai's hand protectively.

Wow. Their costumes. I almost busted out laughing at that. Kai had this fake moustache on and fairy wings on the back… His whole outfit was a pirate one. Daichi was a ninja samurai of awesomeness, Kai explained.

"What the hell?" Minori was laughing. "What ARE you?" She referred to Kai.

"I am a magical Mexican fairy pirate. I will not hesitate to slap you with my wings," he told her indignantly.

"What's with the moustache?" I pointed out.

"Oh…" Then he stroked it. "I'm Mexican aren't I?"

Minori straight ripped it off. He yelled out in protest. "My moustache!" She said, "Gross." And then handed it back to him. He redid it and even looked in Renee's mirror, fixing it.

"I think we should be going now…" said Daichi. Suke nodded and Kai said goodbye to Kira. "Have fun!" My mom yelled out from her room. I sighed.

We all piled into Suke's car and he began to drive. Music was playing and it was quiet as he drove. There was the occasional talk.

"Calm down," I told Minori. She was practically bouncing in her seat. "Can't," she told me. "It's so… It's going to be so COOL!" she gushed.

"Ow," Daichi said in protest as she accidentally hit him. She ignored him on purpose making me laugh.

This awesome ass song came on and Kai started singing to it. Minori joined in with her high pitched voice. I looked outside the window at the darkness. Every time we drove out a night, I get this feeling of thrill. Like danger could happen but it didn't. We were driving farther and farther away from the town.

"Um…" I tapped on Suke's shoulder.

"Hmm?"

"Where are we going?" I asked. "The second house of Yumi's. Only it's farther away where there are plenty of forests and land," he told me.

I admit, I was actually a little uncomfortable about that. There were going to be a lot of strangers and it was far away from the town in some dark forests. Sounded like some horror movie.

I could see the trees passing by and could tell that we were getting nearer to the house. I saw the lights on up ahead and a whole bunch of varieties of colors. Suke parked in this parking lot. Wow. A house that had it's own parking lot. Well, it actually looked more like a mansion than a house with its tall gates and high roof. It was grand and looked expensive. I gulped.

I stepped out of the car and shivered. The chilly night air hit my skin and was freezing. We walked up to the gates and saw that many people were outside; either because the inside was too hot or too crowded. Probably both. Once I was inside, I gasped. It was so awesome. The music was loud and lots of people in cool costumes were dancing to it. There was some spinning globe thing with lights of red, blue, green, purple, and others shining. There were fake cobwebs everywhere, tables with blood colored punch and lots of Halloween decorated food. What caught my eye the most were the cupcakes. It just looked really delicious to me.

"Akemi, I'm gonna go meet some new people," Minori told me. I just nodded and walked through the crowd of freaks, towards the cupcakes. Once I made it to the table, I picked one up and started eating it. It was as good as it looked. I never realized I was so hungry…

I stood there, eating and drinking while watching everyone else. Minori was dancing and so was Kai. In fact, I think he was pretending to pretend to show off. He ended up messing up and I almost choked on my drink from laughter.

"Having fun?"

I turned to the person who asked that on my right. My smile faded right away when I saw Hikaru standing there. He had on old looking, ripped clothes. There was this chain collar around his neck which then traveled all the way attached to his right wrist. He grinned at me.

"And what are you supposed to be?" I questioned.

Hikaru looked up and down at me. I felt a bit uncomfortable about that. Self conscious.

"Your slave," he grinned. I raised my eyebrows at the 'your' part.

"Yes, your," he hit me playfully on my shoulder. I couldn't help but grin.

"Witches don't need slaves," I told him. "Well, you got one now," is all he said. I shook my head in disbelief. I started walking away from him.

"Wait," he called out. "What?" I turned and looked at him. "You can't just leave your slave here!"

Face palm.

I began walking away and he just chose to follow me. As I walked through the groups of people, I spotted Daichi sitting down with a drink. We glanced at each other and then looked away quickly. It was getting hot in the mansion.

I was barely aware of Hikaru blabbing about something behind me. All I focused on was getting some cool, fresh air. I found the back door and a whole bunch of people in the way. I couldn't get through. Irritated, I turned back around and tried finding the stairs leading to the second floor.

"Are you even paying attention?"

I ignored him and pushed past these huge jocks. They smelled bad and so I held my breath all the way through.

I finally found the staircase with a few groups of people on it. It was less crowded though and so I stepped carefully around each of them with Hikaru following after me. It was quieter upstairs and no one was there besides us two. You know, I hadn't even seen Yumi since this began. Huh.

I saw this sliding door at the very end and rushed towards it, sliding it open and stepping outside. It was a stone balcony overlooking the garden of flowers in the backyard. The garden was simply beautiful and glowed in the night. The fountain had white petals floating in it. There were people out there, below, but only a few.

The air felt good against my skin and I realized Hikaru was done talking. I turned to look at him, puzzled.

Hikaru was looking up at the sky. I don't know why, but I always end up at night with him with the sky and the stars in sight. Then he turned towards me and smiled that... Pretty smile. My face got all hot and red for some strange reason and I quickly looked out towards the forest. It was so awkward..

"What?" he asked, curious.

"Nothing..." I muttered. "No..." Hikaru protested. "Tell me."

"There's nothing to tell," I snapped back at him. He went quiet. Damn my rude mouth. I stood there, trying to calm down a bit because I told myself that I didn't like people like him. And I don't. But I still felt guilty when I said that. It was as bad as a "shut up".

I peeked sideways at him and he was looking down. "Err..." I began. Hikaru looked at me normally, as if I hadn't said anything mean to him.

"Sorry..." I muttered, then looked away. Urgh, I'm not used to apologizing to popular people.

"It's allright," he reassured me. "I'm kinda used to people being mean to me anyways."

That caught me off guard. "What?"

"Oh, nothing." And then he made a dramatic sigh and looked away. Eh? I looked at him and he was staring off out at the distance. "Noo," I told him. "What do you mean?"

Hikaru looked at me then, intently. "If I tell you, would you tell me why you uhh.. Turned red and looked away earlier?"

"Fine."

"Allright then," Hikaru began with a smile. "The reason why I'm used to people being so mean to me; like you are, -laughs- is because I'm popular. I don't know why they're so mean to me when I didn't even do anything to them. They're just mean to me because I look so dang hot." Then he laughed.

I felt even more guilty though. I had judged him also. But you know, I still don't like him. It'd be too complicated to be friends with all of those popular girls around thinking I'm some kind of 'competition'. Rumors will spread and I'll be picked on a lot. Maybe that's why I still don't like him. Hmm..

"Your turn!" He told me cheerfully. I stared at him.

"What?" He then asked self consciously.

"So you are conceited," I told him, thinking of how he said he looked so dang hot. Hikaru laughed. "Well, I know for sure I'm not ugly. And don't try changing the subject! Tell me what you looked away for earlier."

"I wasn't trying to change the conversation," I muttered. "Okay. I just noticed that almost everytime I'm with you, we're always outside, at night, with the sky in sight."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Then I walked to the stone bench by the door and sat down. It felt good to finally be able to rest from standing. Hikaru walked over to sit right next to me. He was closer than I thought and I could feel the warmth emanating from him. It made me somewhat tired and sleepy. Maybe because it wasn't too hot or too cold and was comfortable. Oh, shit. I rid myself of the thought and was disgusted with myself.

I suddenly felt a pair of eyes on my face and turned to see Hikaru looking at me curiously. "Err.." I was wondering why he was looking at me. "What?"

Hikaru laughed. "Nothing, nothing."

"Then quit looking at me."

"What? Why?" He laughed. "Think you're not pretty?"

"That and I feel awkward."

Hikaru laughed. "Well, you're actually pretty, you know." I shrugged. I didn't believe him but I didn't want to hurt his feelings but rejecting his compliment.

"You know," he began. "I'm actually tired of being popular."

"Then why don't you go ugly like the rest of us?" I said. He laughed. "Wish I could... and you guys aren't ugly. At least you guys have real natural beauty instead of fake shit."

"Haha, yeah.." I just said/laughed. "But we get treated less than you guys."

"Well, at least you all are close.. In the world of popularity, everyone is an enemy," he told me. "Everyone's just looking for a way to make others look bad. And their jealousness! I swear. They take it too far most of the time."

"Oh, that sucks." Is all I said. It was quiet except we could still hear the bass sounds from the music inside.

"What's it like to have close friends?" Hikaru asked me seriously. I looked at him. There was some kind of sadness in his eyes that he was trying hard to hide. But it slipped through the cracks a bit and I felt sorry for him. It must suck being popular it seems. But they still got everything better than us...

"Well, it's nice to know that you can trust someone and tell them things," I told him. Hikaru nodded and just leaned back, relaxed. "What's it like being popular?"

Hikaru laughed. "It's hard."

"Just hang with us then," I said. Then I kind of regretted saying that. I was inviting him to our group when I didn't even like him. He might be confused.

He just shook his head with this sad kind of look. "Why not?" I asked him without meaning to. "Can't," he whispered. We were now leaning towards each other, a bit close.

"You don't know what will happen," said Hikaru. "You guys would become targets because of me. They would use you against me, to make me do things I'm supposed to do and I don't want anyone to get hurt again..."

"What do you mean?" I whispered. We would become targets? Who did he hurt before? What would happen?

He smiled slightly. "Sorry. It's just that... You're not as popular and they can use you. I'm popular and I have to do a lot of things I don't want to do. But you guys.. You guys have a lot of time and everything.. For example, if I didn't want to go to a party, they'd threaten to hurt you because you're that vulnerable. My family's very popular with others."

I nodded, understanding. So if he hung out with us, then they'd use us to get him to do something he didn't want to do. And he cared. Well, those people are just plain dumb.

We were both suddenly really aware of how close we were to each other. I couldn't break my gaze away from him though. Then he was leaning towards me and I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe, I was stuck. My mind was screaming at me to push him away. To yell at him. To accuse him. I just couldn't though. My heart was beating really fast. I didn't even like him, damn it!

"Hey Akemi! Time to judge the..." Kai's voice trailed off and Hikaru and I backed off of each other quickly, turning red. "What.. is..?" Kai's eyes were wide and he looked confused. Then understanding showed and he said, "Oh, sorry for ruining your guys' moment. Time to judge costumes though and I'm just going to turn around, pretend I didn't see anything, keep my mouth shut, and wait down there..." Then he backed away quickly.

Unexpectedly, Hikaru laughed. I jumped, startled. He was laughing. I smiled.

"Let's go," he said. Then he stood up and held his hand out to me. I stared. "But I don't even like you," I reminded him. He raised his eyebrows skeptically. Then he opened his mouth as if to say something, but quickly shut it. We walked downstairs.

Daichi found this stranger dude to judge us and he looked at all of our costumes.

"You two are hot," he told Minori and I. "But the creativity of the other two makes them the winner."

Minori growled and hit the guy as he walked away laughing. "Whaaat? That's not fair!" she whined. "Hell yeah!" Kai exclaimed. "I knew we'd win!"

"Looks like you two have to pretend to like Hikaru," Daichi grinned. "No holding back."

"At least, one of them will be pretending," Kai muttered. "What?" Minori asked him, confused. I kicked Kai from behind, without anyone seeing, and then he said, "Nothing."

We walked to the car and found Suke and Renee hugging. We snuck up on them and scared the shit out of Renee. She yelled at us but we laughed it off. Suke drove us all each to our own homes and dropped us off. I dragged myself up the stairs and fell asleep.


End file.
